Getting married? Consider beer instead of champagne. Others are.

Is it the economic climate, or a case of jumping on the ale bandwagon? Whichever the case, more brides and grooms are ditching Champagne and toasting their weddings with beer.

It was only a matter of time before even tradition-bound weddings became swept up in the craft beer revolution. And a search online reveals a growing number of breweries or ex-breweries available for wedding receptions.

Samuel Adams, one of the biggest brewers in the US, released the slightly cringeingly named Brewlywed last month. It is a limited edition Belgian-style ale described by the brewers as “the colour of a golden wedding band” and is finished with a Champagne closure.

Robert Eastwood, joint managing director at Small Beer, a UK cask wholesaler said: “We’ve had a few people this year wanting three or four different cask beers for their weddings, but I don’t think the Champagne standard is going to change.”

Nevertheless, couples are finding beer lends itself well to customisation for the celebration. “I went to one wedding where they even designed a pull clip specially for the wedding,” said Eastwood. Bespoke beer labels are also popular.